If you look at things this way, Sri Lanka was the runner-up when India lifted an ODI World Cup last time. Compare it to today. India are heading toward a Champions Trophy (Assuming they don’t pull out willingly) while Sri Lanka have to wait more than 30 months before they can even think about welcoming an ICC ODI event. There is a long list of what has gone wrong for the Islanders, especially in limited-overs cricket. And an even longer list of the things that are still going the polar opposite of how Sri Lanka would have wanted them. For instance, injuries. No series, be it bilateral or multi-lateral, begins without the news of Sri Lankan bowlers getting sidelined due to injuries.
In cricket, you can’t tag injuries as ‘uncontrollables’ in this age and time. Thats one more thing on the Sri Lankan blame list. Without learning how to tackle the ever-present injuries, they can forget to do an impressive job even in the ODI World Cup 2027. The only thing that should bring peace to the team as a whole is that they have many months till then and the sooner they start the remedial work, the better. This series is exactly the point where Sri Lanka has nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Team Overview:
What better way to summarize the Sri Lankan team news than bringing the injuries into the spotlight? The hosts will be without the services of Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, and Matheesha Pathirana, all of who will sit out and tend to their injuries. The classic middle-order issues in ODIs leech off Sri Lanka as well but their top-order especially Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama have been in some form lately (as in the last time they played an ODI game). The newly-appointed captain Charith Asalanka has averaged just a little shy of 42 since the start of last year.
India have started rehearsing for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 by calling back all the main players from their sabbatical. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have joined many youngsters, some of whom will be going with them for possibly their last ICC tournament. Hardik Pandya will likely be replaced by Shivam Dube, and Indian management would be hoping to see how, if at all, he can be utilized for the 50-over format.
Head-to-Head Matches:
India and Sri Lanka have played plenty of games against each other but even during Sri Lanka’s golden days, the men in blue dominated the head-to-head record. Currently, the figures stand at 99-58 in India’s favor. Both teams have played 168 ODIs and the remaining 11 games ended without any result.
Interestingly (or to Sri Lanka’s chagrin), the last time India and Sri Lanka played an ODI at R. Premadasa Stadium was the Asia Cup 2023 final, which, if anything, ended in a humiliating defeat for the hosts, where they could only set a target of 51 for India.
Weather and Pitch report:
Weather in Colombo does not seem promising as grey clouds are threatening to give way to heavy rain anytime. This time of the year is usually very wet and cricket too will not get any reprieve. The pitch will assist the spinners but won’t particularly be a rank-turner. Batters can hope to do their tricks but a word of caution would be to be extra careful.
Prediction:
India have finally been able to translate their talent into results and it will not be soon before that will stop bearing fruit. Playing against the strongest white ball team currently in the cricketing world, Sri Lanka will have very few chances to get over the line.
Where to Watch:
You can watch the game on the following platforms as per your location:
Sri Lanka: Sony Sports Network, Sony Liv App (Live Streaming)
India: Sony Sports Network. For Live Streaming: Sony Liv App, Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD and Sony Sports Network, Sony Liv App
United Kingdom: TNT Sports 2
Pakistan: Tapmad
